As the presidential election nears, we start thinking about the
choices we have to make. In the election, we face a basic choice of
``left'' versus ``right.'' Although ``left'' versus ``right''
accurately describes the choice we face in the voting booth, it does
not fully describe the landscape of political thought.

A better way of carving up that landscape is into ``collectivism''
versus ``individualism.'' This is not a new dichotomy, but it's been
a long time since politicians have talked in such fundamental terms.
Instead, they focus on details of implementation-policies, programs,
and tax plans-leaving the fundamental issues implicit and confused.

Today I want to escape from election-speak and try to focus for a
while on the more fundamental questions. I will define and contrast
individualism and collectivism and explore their philosophic
underpinnings and their political consequences.

Individualism and collectivism are conflicting views of the nature
of humans, society and the relationship between them.

Individualism holds that the individual is the primary unit of
reality and the ultimate standard of value. This view does not deny
that societies exist or that people benefit from living in them, but
it sees society as a collection of individuals, not something over and
above them.

Collectivism holds that the group---the nation, the community,
the proletariat, the race, etc.---is the primary unit of reality and
the ultimate standard of value. This view does not deny the reality
of the individual. But ultimately, collectivism holds that one's
identity is determined by the groups one interacts with, that one's
identity is constituted essentially of relationships with others.

Individualists see people dealing primarily with reality;
other people are just one aspect of reality. Collectivists see people
dealing primarily with other people; reality is dealt with through the
mediator of the group; the group, not the individual, is what directly
confronts reality.

Individualism holds that every person is an end in himself and
that no person should be sacrificed for the sake of another.
Collectivism holds that the needs and goals of the individual are
subordinate to those of the larger group and should be sacrificed when
the collective good so requires.

Individualism holds that the individual is the unit of
achievement. While not denying that one person can build on the
achievements of others, individualism points out that achievement goes
beyond what has already been done; it is something new that
is created by the individual.

Collectivism, on the other hand, holds that achievement is a
product of society. In this view, an individual is a temporary
spokesman for the underlying, collective process of progress.

To further clarify the difference between individualism and
collectivism, I'd like to discuss two widespread misconceptions about
individualism.

The first misconception is that individualism means
isolation---being alone, being outside society. This misconception is
reflected in the popular images of ``individualism,'' images that
stress being isolated, such as those of the lone cowboy, the fearless
gumshoe, and the isolated prairie family. Such images can be exciting
and heroic, but isolation is not the essence of individualism.

In fact, the concept of individualism does not make sense in the
absence of other human beings. Individualism and collectivism are
contrasting views of the relationship between the individual and the
group. Individualism is called ``individualism'' not because it
exhorts the individual to seek a life apart from others, but because
it asserts that the individual, and not the group, is the primary
constituent of society.

The belief that individualism means being alone leads people to
say that individualism is incompatible with cooperation. If one is
too much of an ``individualist,'' people say, one cannot ``get along
with groups,'' one is not a good ``team player.'' Actually, a person
who doesn't listen to others, the person who would rather do things an
inefficient way as long as it's ``my way,'' is not being an
``individualist''---he's being closed minded. A true individualist
wants the best for himself, so he seeks out the best, no mater who is
the source. To the individualist, the truth is more important than
any authority, including himself.

Living in society, cooperating with other people---these are
tremendous benefits. Individualism does not deny this. But not all
arrangements of living and working with other men are beneficial to
the individual; the arrangement faced by American slaves is one
example. Individualism is a theory of the conditions under which
living and working with others is, in fact, beneficial.

Another widespread misconception about individualism is that it
can somehow be mixed with or tempered by collectivism. In this view,
neither ``extreme'' individualism nor ``extreme'' collectivism are
correct. Rather, wisdom and truth lie somewhere in the middle.

Individualism and collectivism are contradictory positions---there
is no middle ground between them. Collectivism maintains that the
group is an entity in its own right, a thing that can act upon people.
Individualism denies this. Collectivism sees us being influenced by
the group; individualism sees us being influenced by other
individuals. Collectivism sees us cooperating with the team;
individualism, with other people. Collectivism sees us building on
the ideas and achievements of society; individualism, on the ideas and
achievements of individuals. These are contradictory positions; it's
either-or.

To accept the ``balance'' point of view is to accept collectivism.
No collectivist has ever said that every single need of every
individual must be frustrated for the sake of the society---if so,
there wouldn't be any society left to serve. Collectivism is
the balance point of view; it is a matter of fine-tuning here and
there, constraining individuals when their interests get out of line
with the ``good of society.''

Indeed, the main debate between the ``left'' and the ``right''
today is not a debate over collectivism and individualism---its a
debate over two forms of collectivism. The ``left'' holds that the
needs of society lie in the materialistic realm, so they are into
regulating that aspect of individual affairs. The ``right'' holds
that the needs of society lie in the spiritual realm, so they are into
regulating the spiritual aspect of individual affairs.

Collectivism is, by its nature, an act of balancing the need of
the individual against the need of ``society.'' Individualism denies
that society has any needs, so the issue of balance is not relevant to
it.

The first issue I want to explore is responsibility versus the
social safety-net.

A primary element of individualism is individual responsibility.
Being responsible is being pro-active, making one's choices
consciously and carefully, and accepting accountability for everything
one does---or fails to do. An integral part of responsibility is
productivity. The individualist recognizes that nothing nature gives
men is entirely suited to their survival; rather, humans must work to
transform their environment to meet their needs. This is the essence
of production. The individualist takes responsibility for his own
production; he seeks to ``earn his own way,'' to ``pull his own
weight.''

Collectivism doesn't disparage responsibility; but ultimately,
collectivism does not hold individuals accountable for the choices
they make. Failing to save for retirement, having children one can't
afford, making bad investments, becoming addicted to drugs or
smoking---these actions are called ``social problems'' that
``society'' has to deal with. Thus, collectivists seek to build a
social ``safety-net'' to protect individuals from the choices they
make. To collectivism, responsibility is only to be expected of the
productive, and consists of doing one's part in keeping the social
``safety-net'' in tact.

Regarding production, collectivism sees society, not individuals,
as the agent of production. As a result, wealth belongs to
``society,'' so collectivists have no trouble dreaming up schemes to
redistribute wealth according to their visions of ``social justice.''

Altruism holds ``each man as his brother's keeper;'' in other
words, we are each responsible for the health and well-being of
others. Clearly, this is a simple statement of the ``safety-net''
theory from above. This is incompatible with individualism, yet many
people who are basically individualists uphold altruism as the
standard of morality. What's going on?

The problem is wide-spread confusion over the meanings of
``altruism'' and ``egoism.''

The first confusion is to confound altruism with kindness,
generosity, and helping other people. Altruism demands more than
kindness: it demands sacrifice. The billionaire who
contributes $50,000 to a scholarship fund is not acting
altruistically; altruism goes beyond simple charity. Altruism is the
grocery bagger who contributes $50,000 to the fund, foregoing his own
college education so that others may go. Parents who spend a fortune
to save their dying child are helping another person, but true
altruism would demand that the parents spend their money to save ten
other children, sacrificing their own child so that others may live.

The second confusion is to confound selfishness with brutality.
The common image of selfishness is the person who runs slip-shod over
people in order to achieve arbitrary desires. We are taught that
``selfishness'' consists of dishonesty, theft, even bloodshed, usually
for the sake of the whim of the moment.

These two confusions together obscure the possibility of an ethics
of non-sacrifice. In this ethics, each man takes responsibility for
his own life and happiness, and lets other people do the same. No one
sacrifices himself to others, nor sacrifices others to himself. The
key word in this approach is earn: each person must earn a
living, must earn the love and respect of his peers, must earn the
self-esteem and the happiness that make life worth living.

It's this ethics of non-sacrifice that forms a lasting moral
foundation for individualism. It's an egoistic ethics in that each
person acts to achieve his own happiness. Yet, it's not the brutality
usually ascribed to egoism. Indeed, by rejecting sacrifice as such,
it represents a revolution in thinking on ethics.

Two asides on the topic of egoism. First, just as individualism
doesn't mean being alone, neither does non-sacrificial egoism.
Admiration, friendship, love, good-will, charity, generosity: these
are wonderful values that a selfishness person would want as part of
his life. But these values do not require true sacrifice,
and thus are not altruistic in the deepest sense of the word.

Second, I question if brutality, the form of selfishness usually
ascribed to egoism, is actually in one's self-interest in practice.
Whim worship, dishonesty, theft, exploitation: I would argue that the
truly selfish man rejects these, for he knows that happiness and
self-esteem can't be stolen at the cost of others: they must be
earned through hard work.

The philosophic defense of individualism rests on the nature of
reason and the role it plays in human life.

Reason is the faculty of conceptual awareness; reason integrates
the evidence of the senses into a higher-level of awareness. But
beyond simple cognition, reason plays a key role in imagination,
emotions, and creativity. Every thing we think, feel, imagine and do
is based on our awareness and our thoughts. Our character, personal
identity, and history of achievement are defined by our thoughts. Our
very survival depends on reason. Our food, clothes, shelter, and
medicine---all are products of thought. Reason is at the core of
being human.

Reason is individualistic. No person can think for another;
thought is an attribute of the individual. One can start with the
ideas of another, but each new discovery, each creative step beyond
the already known, is a product of the individual. And when an
individual does build on the work and ideas of others, he
is building on the work of other individuals, not on the
ideas of ``society.''

Individualism, then, is based on the fact that humans are rational
beings, and that reason is an attribute of the individual. Humans can
get together and share the products of reason, which is beneficial,
but they cannot share the capacity to think.

Collectivist philosophers go out of their way to attack reason.
One broad method of attack is skepticism, the denial that reason even
works. This attack is illustrated in bromides like ``you can't be
sure of anything.'' A more sophisticated attack on reason aims at
turning reason into a product of the group. Each nation, race,
economic class, creed, or gender has its own concept, logic, and
truth. But in the end, all attacks on reason have a common
result: they deny or confuse the role reason plays as the foundation
of individualism.

The final issue I want to look at are the the political
implications of individualism and collectivism.

These implications should be fairly clear. Under collectivism,
the individual, in whole or in part, is a means to satisfying the
needs of ``society.'' The state is the instrument for organizing
people to meet those needs. So it is the state, not the individual,
that is sovereign.

Under individualism, the individual is sovereign. The individual
is an end in himself, whose cooperation is to be obtain only through
voluntary agreement. All people are expected to act as traders,
either voluntarily agreeing to interact or going separate
ways; it's either ``win-win, or no deal.'' The government is limited
strictly to ensuring that coercion is banished from human relations,
that ``voluntary'' is really voluntary, that both sides
choose freely to deal and both sides live up to their agreements.

Since I am representing the group Radicals for
Capitalism, I do want to tie capitalism into the discussion
so far.

Radicals for Capitalism advocates the philosophy of individualism,
and supports capitalism as the only political system compatible with
individualism. Unfortunately, the word ``capitalism'' is
misunderstood today; everybody seems to mean something different by
the word. Many opponents of capitalism blame the market for the
result of State interventions in the economy. Many so-called
``capitalists'' mix socialist and interventionist schemes in with free
market rhetoric---and call the result Capitalism. Today,
``capitalism'' is much maligned and misunderstood, buried under false
allegations.

We want to liberate the term from such baggage. By capitalism we
mean: a ``social system based on the recognition of individual rights,
including property rights, in which all property is privately owned.''
``A system where any and all forms of government intervention in
production and trade is abolished, and State and Economics are
separated in the same way and for the same reasons as the separation
of Church and State'' (CUI, p109).

As mentioned earlier, it's a system based on the notion that
humans are traders---either voluntarily agreeing to interact or going
separate ways---a system in which government is limited strictly to
ensuring that coercion is banished from human relations, that
``voluntary'' is really voluntary, that both sides choose
freely to deal.

Under capitalism, the government protects rights, including the
right to property. Without the right to use and dispose what one has
produced, one has no liberty. If individuals can't work and produce
towards goals they can't pursue happiness. If one can't consume the
product of one's effort, one cannot live. To the degree a government
does not protect property rights, an individual is a slave at the
mercy of someone or some group.

Capitalism is not a system under which unproductive
individuals can leach off the productive ones, whether the
``unproductive'' are the unambitious or politically-connected
businessmen. Nor is capitalism a system in which the government acts
not as a protector, but as a coercer of productive individuals. There
are examples galore of unjust acts committed under the banner of law
and justice, for example, when the government takes from one person to
feed another, or when government takes taxpayer money to bail out
foolhardy bankers.

Unfortunately, our vision of capitalism is not the current state
of affairs and has only been approximated in the history of the man
kind. No system in the world today is capitalistic to the extent we
advocate. All could be, but not without changes; in particular, the
wide-spread acceptance of individualism.

I began this talk by mentioning the upcoming election. You might
be wondering what the relevance of my words are to that election.

In terms of effecting change, the fundamental issues we've touched
on today have a time horizon much longer than the electoral
process---we're talking decades and even generations. And yet, these
fundamental issues are more important than the implementation details
we hear about, in the sense that whether people accept individualism,
moderate collectivism, or extreme collectivism has a tremendous impact
on the range of implementation details considered at election time.

Our goal today, and the goal of RadCap's in general, is to help
raise the level of abstraction of political discourse to a higher
level, to the level of fundamental issues like individualism versus
collectivism. Of course, RadCaps advocates a specific point of
view---individualism---and we would like to convince people that it's
the correct one. But just as important, we feel, is the more general
goal of the level of discourse. So I hope that next time you hear a
political advertisement or a debate between candidates, you'll try to
see the collectivist and individualist angles in addition to the
concrete policies advocated.